Bonnie Tisler

Aug 30, 1939 -

Feb 8, 2022

A fourth generation Alaskan, Bonnie Weimer Tisler was born to parents Catherine and Robert Weimer on Aug. 30, 1939, in Anchorage, Alaska. Bonnie passed away at home surrounded by family on Feb. 8, 2022, due to complications from ALS.

Bonnie graduated from Anchorage High School in 1957. She was a varsity member of the Anchorage Ski Club and on the Artic Valley Ski Patrol. She earned a B.S. in physical therapy in 1961 from the University of Washington. As a lifelong learner, Bonnie regularly attended OLE classes at UAA after retiring from the Anchorage Fracture and Orthopedic Clinic in 2005.

Raised with a shovel in her hands on the family homestead and potato farm at the corner of what is now Jewel Lake and Raspberry Roads, dirt coursed through Bonnie's veins. After she worked for a few years in California in the mid 1960s, she and her family relocated to western Washington to live and work. She and her family spent 20 years raising crops and livestock before Bonnie returned to Alaska in 1990, where she continued her work as a physical therapist.

Once home, Bonnie wasn't one to let grass grow under her feet. She quickly became rooted in many Anchorage organizations: Pioneers of Alaska, Gold Prospectors of Alaska, Habitat for Humanity Women's Build, Anchorage Senior Center and the Anchorage Weavers and Spinners Guild all benefited from her volunteerism. A Master Gardener since 2013, Bonnie was awarded the 2021 Alaska Master Gardener Lifetime Achievement Award. Bonnie volunteered thousands of hours over the past decade as the Master Gardener for the Anchorage Senior Center Gardens, overseeing the design and transformation of the gardens into the tour worthy space that it is today. When she wasn't playing in the soil in a garden, she could be found playing in the dirt in a creek panning for gold.

As a talented fiber artist who knitted thousands of chemo caps for Providence hospital patients, Bonnie's spinning, weaving, knitting and tatting skills were highly admired. Her handiwork earned many blue ribbons and Grand Champions at the Alaska State Fair. If someone dropped a live sheep in Bonnie's yard, she had all the skills necessary to hand them back a Scandinavian sweater or custom dyed, silk-lined woven jacket a month later. Bonnie's love of fiber and flowers left the world a more beautiful place.

Bonnie is survived by her loving family: brothers, Robert "Pete" Weimer, Russell Weimer (Dolores); daughter, Lisa Poole (Jon); sons, Mark Tisler and Matthew Tisler (fiance Angel); nieces, Leola Rutherford (Barron) and Amy Weimer (Kevin Newman); nephews, Robert Weimer (Lisa) and Tom Weimer (Catherine); cousins, Butch Cavanaugh (Bonnie), Peter Cavanaugh (Brenda), Kathy Holt (James); grandnieces, Amber Weimer, Heather Grenier, Kalena Weimer, Tristan Rutherford and Alina Newman; grandnephews, Terek Rutherford, Garrett Rutherford, and Kole Newman; and adopted grandchildren, Gabe Haddox and Rylee Haddox.

Bonnie was preceded by her parents; sister-in-law, Judy Weimer; grandniece, Morgan Weimer; and cousin, Patti Cavanaugh.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held on Friday, July 8, 2022, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., at the Anchorage Senior Center.